Friends Of Barbie’s Boyfriend Have Their Day At Kenvention
By Dan Weissmann, Paula FriedrichFriends Of Barbie’s Boyfriend Have Their Day At Kenvention
By Dan Weissmann, Paula FriedrichDolls, in boxes, line the walls of Lamanda Scott’s 8th-floor hotel room. There are hundreds — mostly Barbies, but also Ken. Especially Ken.
This is the Kenvention — a Mattel-blessed conference dedicated to Barbie’s boyfriend — and Scott’s hotel room is a kind of pop-up shop. The dolls have prices ranging from five dollars to more than $400.
The set-up at the Sheraton is perfect for display. Each room has a big picture window facing the atrium.
One Ken Doll among Scott’s collection stands out because his hair is a mess. Also, his jacket doesn’t fit very well.
“He’s actually a really interesting doll,” Scott said. “He’s the very first Kenvention doll.”
He look kind of like Homeless-Guy Ken.
“Well, I do think he didn’t travel well,” Scott said. “I think at one point his hair was very nice. Right? And then I think over the last four years he’s gotten in bins, out of bins. He’s been in a lot of hotel rooms, and his hair probably needs a brushing.”
The Kenvention is part of a Barbie-show circuit that also stops in California, Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.
Jim Taylor, president of the “He’s a Doll” club that sponsors the conference, traveled to shows in Livonia, Mich. and Milan, Italy, this year. He said his spending in Milan was especially high.
“As I was getting on the plane, I thought, ‘I have ten thousand dollars worth of dolls in my bag. I hope I don’t lose it.’”
Of the three shoppers in Scott’s room, Janet Benoit reports the lowest annual Barbie spend — maybe $8,000 or $9,000 a year.
“Before I started collecting, I would sort of wander through the aisle at Target and think, that’s so cute! But I could never!” she says. “I just didn’t see myself as the kind of person who had dolls, as an adult. Finally, my husband—I was looking at one in a Target—he said ‘Just put it in the cart. We have to go!’ And that was all I needed. And it went in the cart, and suddenly I was just off and running.”
See more photos of Kenvention, including crafting workshops and doll dioramas, in the slideshow at the top of the page.